Capturing Young Minds With Mite – A Pre College Residential Program Generating Results

The Minority Introduction to Engineering (MITE) program at The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) is a five-day summer residential program designed to spark students’ interest in engineering as an exciting career choice. MITE offers 100 high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to discover engineering through hands-on experience and interaction with engineering students, faculty, staff, and practicing engineers. While residing on the UT campus, MITE participants attend interactive workshops that highlight: engineering disciplines; the college admissions process; and financial aid/scholarships. In addition, student teams participate in a week long design competition where they are required to design, build, and test a working model to meet given specifications within a budget. MITE provides high school students with an understanding of the personal commitment required to obtain a degree in engineering. Hosted by the Equal Opportunity in Engineering (EOE) Program for more than 25 years, MITE serves as our most effective recruitment program. Seventy percent of MITE participants, eligible for college enrollment in Fall 2004, applied for admission to UT Austin. This paper provides an overview of the MITE Program and captures lessons learned over the years. In addition, it describes how data from Recruitment Plus, a university wide student recruitment database, is used to evaluate and demonstrate the effectiveness of MITE. Program coordinators also use this data to direct their continued efforts to enhance and evolve the MITE program. The EOE Program at UT Austin was established in 1970 for the recruitment, retention, and academic development of Hispanic, African American, and Native American students interested in pursuing careers in engineering. EOE supports students historically underrepresented in engineering and strives to increase the number of minority engineering graduates from UT Austin through comprehensive support programs that address outreach and recruitment, academic enrichment, leadership, and professional development. As a result of EOE and programs such as MITE, the minority student enrollment for the College of Engineering has increased substantially over the past 34 years, from 94 in 1971, to 890 in Fall 2004, which represents 17.6 percent of the total undergraduate enrollment. Our vision is to create a student body at UT Austin’s College of Engineering that reflects the demographics of the college age population within the state of Texas, 43 percent ethnic minorities. Introduction The Minority Introduction to Engineering (MITE) program was created at The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) in 1980 to spark high school students’ interest in engineering as an exciting career choice. MITE was initiated to address the following challenges: (1) lack of P ge 10294.1 Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education African American, Hispanic, and Native American students pursuing undergraduate degrees in engineering; (2) large percentage of African American, Hispanic, and Native American students with limited exposure to the field of engineering; (3) large percentage of African American, Hispanic, and Native American engineering students with limited knowledge about career opportunities in engineering. Nearly 2,500 students have participated in the MITE Program since its creation. The MITE Program provides students with the opportunity to discover engineering through hands-on experience and interaction with engineering students, faculty, staff, and practicing engineers. In addition, MITE participants learn about: the UT admissions process; financial aid; and the availability of housing and scholarships. The goals and objectives for the MITE Program include the following: (1) increase student knowledge about engineering so they can make informed decisions when selecting a major area of study on university admission applications; (2) increase the number of African American, Hispanic, and Native American students that apply to and enroll in the College of Engineering at UT Austin; (3) actively recruit African American, Hispanic, and Native American students that are academically prepared to compete and be successful in the College of Engineering at UT Austin. Over the past 25 years, nearly 2,500 MITE participants have gained a greater appreciation for engineering and an understanding of the different engineering disciplines offered at UT Austin. MITE has enabled EOE to increase the number of African American, Hispanic, and Native American students that apply to and enroll in the College of Engineering at UT. Seventy percent of MITE participants, eligible for college enrollment in Fall 2004, applied for admission to UT Austin. Program Overview The Minority Introduction to Engineering (MITE) program is a five-day summer residential program at UT Austin designed to spark students’ interest in engineering as an exciting career choice. MITE offers 100 high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to discover engineering through hands-on experience and interaction with engineering students, faculty, staff, and practicing engineers. MITE provides high school students with an understanding of the personal commitment required to obtain a degree in engineering. MITE participants live in university dormitories and are chaperoned by UT Austin engineering students who serve as MITE counselors. MITE is open to students with a strong interest in engineering, science or math. There is no fee to attend MITE with the exception of travel to and from the UT campus. Outstanding African American, Hispanic and Native American students, as well as those who have overcome any social or economic hardship, are strongly encouraged to apply. Table 1, 2, and 3 provide details on the ethnicity, gender, and educational level of MITE 2004 participants. Table 1. 2004 MITE Participant Data – Ethnicity Breakdown. Ethnicity # of Participants Percent African American 21 21.9% Hispanic 62 64.6% White 1 1.0% P ge 10294.2 Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education Asian 8 8.3% Other / Not Reported 4 4.2%